Solving the key issue of sustainability of battery-powered sensors continues to attract significant research attention. The prevailing theme of this research is to address this concern using energy-efficient protocols based on a form of simple cooperative transmission (CT) called the opportunistic large arrays (OLAs), and intelligent exploitation of energy harvesting and hybrid energy storage systems (HESSs). The two key contributions of this research, namely, OLA with transmission threshold (OLA-T) and alternating OLA-T (A-OLA-T), offer an signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) advantage (i.e., benefits of diversity and array (power) gains) in a multi-path fading environment, thereby reducing transmit powers or extending range. Because these protocols do not address nodes individually, the network overhead remains constant for high density networks or nodes with mobility. During broadcasting across energy-constrained networks, while OLA-T saves energy by limiting node participation within a single broadcast, A-OLA-T optimizes over multiple broadcasts and drains the the nodes in an equitable fashion. Another important contribution of this research is the design and analysis of a novel routing metric called communications using HESS (CHESS), which extends the rechargeable battery (RB)-life by relaying exclusively with supercapacitor (SC) energy, and is asymptotically optimal with respect to the number of nodes in the network.

A continuous increase in demands from the utility grid and traction applications have steered public attention toward the integration of energy storage (ES) and hybrid ES (HESS) solutions. Modern technologies are no longer limited to batteries, but can include supercapacitors (SC) and flywheel electromechanical ES well. However, insufficient control and algorithms to monitor these devices can result in a wide range of operational issues. A modern day control platform must have a deep understanding of the source. In this dissertation, specialized modular Energy Storage Management Controllers (ESMC) were developed to interface with a variety of ES devices. The EMSC provides the capability to individually monitor and control a wide range of different ES, enabling the extraction of an ES module within a series array to charge or conduct maintenance, while remaining storage can still function to serve a demand. Enhancements and testing of the ESMC are explored in not only interfacing of multiple ES and HESS, but also as a platform to improve management algorithms. There is an imperative need to provide a bridge between the depth of the electrochemical physics of the battery and the power engineering sector, a feat which was accomplished over the course of this work. First, the ESMC was tested on a lead acid battery array to verify its capabilities. Next, physics-based models of lead acid and lithium ion batteries lead to the improvement of both online battery management and established multiple metrics to assess their lifetime, or state of health. Three unique HESS were then tested and evaluated for different applications and purposes. First, a hybrid battery and SC HESS was designed and tested for shipboard power systems. Next, a lithium ion battery and SC HESS was utilized for an electric vehicle application, with the goal to reduce cycling on the battery. Finally, a lead acid battery and flywheel ES HESS was analyzed for how the inclusion of a battery can provide a dramatic improvement in the power quality versus flywheel ES alone.